Prynne, now Pring, is Anglo-Fr. le prin, the first, from the Old French adjective which survives in printemps. Cf. our name Prime and the French name Premier. The Old French adjective Gent, now replaced by gentil, generally means slender in Mid. English-- "Fair was this yonge wyf, and therwithal As any wezele hir body gent and smal." (A, 3233) Petty and Pettit are variant forms of Fr. petit, small. In Prowse and Prout we have the nominative and objective (Chapter I) of an Old French adjective now represented by preux and prude, generally thought to be related in some way to Lat. pro in prosum, and perhaps also the source of our Proud. Gross is of course Fr. le gros, but Grote represents Du. groot, great, probably unconnected with the French word. The Devonshire name Coffin, which is found in that county in the twelfth century, is the same as Caffyn, perhaps representing Fr. Chauvin, bald, the name of the theologian whom we know better in the latinized form Calvin. Here belongs probably Shovel, Fr. Chauvel. We also have the simple Chaffe, Old Fr. chauf (chauve), bald. Gaylard, sometimes made into the imitative Gaylord, is Fr. gaillard, brisk, lively "Gaillard he was as goldfynch in the shawe." (A, 4367.) COLOUR NAMES Especially common are colour nicknames, generally due to the complexion, but sometimes to the garb. As we have already seen (Chapter XV), Black and its variant Blake sometimes mean pale. Blagg is the same word; cf. Jagg for Jack. White has no doubt been reinforced by wight, valiant "Oh for one hour of Wallace wight Or well-skilled Bruce to rule the fight." (Marmion, vi. 20.) As an epithet applied to the hair we often find Hoar; cf. Horlock. Redd is rare, the usual forms being the northern Reid, Reed, Read; but we also have Rudd from Anglo-Sax. rud, whence ruddy and the name Ruddock, really a bird nickname, the redbreast. To these must be added Rudge, Fr. rouge, Rouse, Rush and Russ, Fr, roux, and Russell or Rowsell, Old Fr. roussel (Rousseau). The commonest nickname for a fair-haired person was Blunt, Blount, Fr. blond, with its dim. Blundell, but the true English name is Fairfax, from Anglo-Sax. feax, hair. The New English Dictionary quotes from the fifteenth century "Then they lowsyd hur feyre faxe, That was yelowe as the waxe." The adjective dun was once a regular name, like Dobbin or Dapple, for a cart-horse; hence the name of the old rural sport "Dun in the mire"-- "If thou art dun we'll draw thee from the mire." (Romeo and Juliet, i. 4.) It is possible that the name Dunn is sometimes due to this specific application of the word. The colour blue appears as Blew-- "At last he rose, and twitch'd his mantle blew: To-morrow to fresh woods and pastures new" (Lycidas, 1. 192)-- and earlier still as Blow-- "Blak, blo, grenysh, swartysh, reed." (House of Fame, iii. 557.)